The implications of the reality of who Christ is and what He has accomplished are far reaching. Since He is the substance (17b), everything must center on him. It relativizes the importance of everything else, such as food, drink, festivals, new moons, and sabbaths (16). The Christian doesn't need to fear the opinions and judgments of people who would judge and condemn over peripheral matters (16, 18a). If Christ isn't at the center (19a), people will get hooked into peripheral and sometimes bizarre things such as asceticism, worship of angles, visions, and self exaltation (18b,c,d). But when one holds onto Christ as the center, he or she grows as a significant part of the whole body of Christ (19).